But For Grace
by Guile
Summary: There, but for the grace of god, go I. Luffy sifts through whatifs and mighthavebeens.


A/N: Ahh, all hail the short attention span that induced me to drop my other One Piece WIP (and about five other fics in various fandoms) in the middle of the second chapter and start writing this. It was _supposed_ to be a serious, dramatic tale... but I get the feeling I didn't quite manage it. Ah well...

Disclaimer: Oda's. Not mine.

- - -

Luffy the Straw Hat dropped bonelessly to the ground, sprawled out like limp rubber. His eyes were blank and glassy: no one home.

"Ha!" the freaky pirate captain of the week gloated. "Thanks to the power of my Devil Fruit, Straw Hat Luffy is - " The rest of his boast was cut off when Zoro introduced him to the business end of the Sandai Kitetsu. In the ensuing silence, as the captain's subordinates' (read: cannon-fodder) collective jaw dropped, they were treated to the sight of an orange-haired fury shaking the deadly swordsman around by the lapels in a display of brute strength.

"Zoro!" Nami, the banshee in question, shrieked. "How are we going to find out what that freak did to Luffy if you _slice him into little bits!_"

"Now now, Nami-swan!" Sanji called, having appeared seemingly from thin air when it looked like she might be in need of assistance. "No need to use your delicate hands for that. If that shitty marimo has done something to displease you, _I_ can punish him for you."

Nami ignored the swordsman's muttered 'You and what army?', when she noticed the lackeys still standing around, slack-jawed. "What're you guys still doing here?" she growled. They cowered. "Sanji-kun?" Her voice was suddenly all sweetness and light.

"Yeees, Nami-swan!"

"Take care of these unwanted guests, please." Sanji seemed to notice the staring pirates for the first time. "My pleasure, Nami-swan."

A few seconds of horrible violence later, the deck was cleared of intruders. Nami snapped out more orders, ignoring Zoro's grumbling and Sanji's fawning in equal measure. "Zoro, take Luffy downstairs. He can use my bed. Sanji, find Robin and Chopper. Usopp, too, I guess - the enemies are gone, he can come out now."

Not long after that, she was alone on deck. With a quiet sigh, she snagged Luffy's hat, which had fallen off when... whatever had happened, happened. She followed the cook and the fighter downstairs without another word.

- - -

Luffy hit the ground with a pained grunt. He looked around. It looked sort of like that 'house of mirrors' he'd wandered into one time. Lots and lots of mirrors, endless numbers of them, lined the walls of the odd corridor, stretching out into the distance. The floor and walls were sort of a dull shade. He honestly couldn't tell what color they were, just that it was sort of dark and dull and not very interesting.

When he looked back at the mirror on the wall behind him, he saw his nakama clustered around a bed with him in it. "Weird," he muttered, entranced. His voice had an odd, echoing quality to it. "It looks sort of like a painting, but..." The figures within the glass were moving.

He knew he'd come out of that mirror, somehow. He supposed he should go back... this was a neat place, but he didn't want his nakama to worry...

Just as he was about to try forcing his way into the mirror, he was distracted by the one next to it. Inside, Nami worked at a desk in the flickering light thrown by a nearby lamp, while Zoro napped on a couch nearby. But what had captured his attention...

His stomach growled. There was a bowl of fruit on the table - it wasn't meat, but... Luffy tried to press against the glass to get a better look.

Which didn't go so well, considering he fell right through, as if it were an open door instead of silvered glass. Luffy flopped to the ground in a lamp-lit room, containing one working navigator, one sleeping swordsman, and one confused pirate-king-to-be.

He still took no time at all in devouring that bowl of fruit, however.

TBC

- - -

For anyone who doesn't know, marimo are a marine creature-plant-thing that looks remarkably like Zoro's head, and is Sanji's favorite nickname for him.

A/N: I guess you can call this one an AU.


End file.
